VC firm pays £150,000 for UK domain name

by Alex Donohue, Brand Republic 09-Nov-07, 10:00

LONDON - Sainsbury's 1997 record of paying the highest amount for a co.uk internet domain name has been broken, after venture capital firm ASAP Ventures acquired Recycle.co.uk for £150,000 in a live domain name auction.

The sale, which was completed yesterday during an auction held by internet domain name business Sedo, breaks the previous record held by Sainsbury's, which acquired taste.co.uk, for £110,000 in 1997.

Venture capital firm ASAP Ventures intends to use the Recycle.co.uk domain name to launch a UK business giving consumers advice on recycling methods.

The free-to-register website, which is now live, describes itself as a "recycling marketplace", giving advice on where people can dispose of household waste in their area in an environmentally friendly manner, with the aim of reducing the amount sent to landfill sites.

Yesterday's live auction also involved the sale of mobile.co.uk, which was bought by an undisclosed bidder for £120,000.

Sedo, which organises the bid process for UK domain names for more than 80% of all transactions, said there were more than 6m registered co.uk domain names currently taken, but a shortage of "memorable" ones had driven the value of available ones upwards. According to Sedo, the market for co.uk domain names grew by 30% last year to more than £1.5m.

However, the record for a UK domain name is dwarfed by ones for the more highly sought .com, with sex.com bought last year for a reported $12m and diamond.com, which was acquired for $7.5m.

Nora Nanayakkara, UK operations director at Sedo, said: "Organisations are becoming increasingly aware of the benefits in owning a generic internet domain name which is easy for the customer to find and remember.

"As well as strengthening a company's online brand and supporting marketing campaigns, a generic internet domain name generates a natural flow of traffic to a company's website."